new from above/ground press: SEARCHING FOR A SPECIES, by Eleni Zisimatos

SEARCHING FOR A SPECIES
Eleni Zisimatos
$4

In looking for a species, we search
Dimensions, like April or noon, and
Then we don’t find the certain
Ectoplasm or little being who looks like us
And we hate with such sincerity

That the fall from Eden looks like child’s play
That snake, so certain of itself, the monkey that
Came after from the loins of Adam

A mistake. We are small creatures, after all,
We only needed the wine, the dance
Of nightshade
Or Dionysus with the spear he stole
From Poseidon, what a mass of nothingness
The grapes, the tenor of craziness
In this, our planet

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
February 2018
celebrating twenty-five years of above/ground press
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Eleni Zisimatos, born and raised in Montreal, writes about loss and injustice when she is not editing Vallum Magazine. She has been short-listed for several awards, including a National Magazine Award. www.vallummag.com

This is Zisimatos’ second above/ground press title after summations : travels through Italy, produced as STANZAS magazine, volume 1, issue #27 (April 2001).

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

above/ground press 25th anniversary essay: Eleni Zisimatos

This is the third in a series of short essays/reminiscences by a variety of authors and friends of the press to help celebrate the first quarter century of above/ground. See links to the whole series here.

Up until 2006, above/ground produced around forty-five long-poem sequence chapbooks under the title, Stanzas. My chapbook, Summations: travels through Italy, was published as a Stanzas title in 2001. It was an exciting time for me as I was just starting to take poetry seriously, and it was also the time Vallum came into being. I later went on to read this long poem on the CKUT radio station in Montreal. So, while I was publishing poems in Canadian journals, my first real, not self-published, chapbook was by above/ground.

above/ground press has produced exceptional titles throughout the past 25 years and has supported poets across Canada fervently. Running a press for so many years is mostly a labour of love, as most of the titles were given away for free over the years, and it is mostly by subscription that the press stays in operation. above/ground press is a huge achievement in the sustenance of Canadian poetry and poets, and deserves our support on a grand scale. 25 years is a long time. Hopefully, there will be many more to come.


Eleni Zisimatos is a poet and editor of Vallum Magazine, based in Montreal. www.vallummag.com

Zisimatos’ is the author of two above/ground press titles, including summations : travels through Italy, produced as STANZAS magazine, volume 1, issue #27 (April 2001) and the chapbook SEARCHING FOR A SPECIES, scheduled to appear sometime over the next few weeks.

some author activity: hanna, Pirie, Zisimatos + Christie,

natalie hanna interviews Kayla Czaga as part of the Arc Poetry Magazine newsletter; Pearl Pirie is featured in rob mclennan's monthly "spotlight" series; and Eleni Zisimatos and Jason Christie both have new essays up at my (small press) writing day.

Eleni Zisimatos reviews philip miletic’s marginal prints (2017) at the Vallum blog

Montreal poet, editor and publisher Eleni Zisimatos was good enough to provide the first review of philip miletic’s marginal prints (2017) over at the blog for Vallum magazine. Thanks so much! You can see the original review here.

marginal prints by Philip Miletic is an accomplished book of avant-garde-type poetry that engages the reader fully. With expert control of his words, Miletic opens an exciting world to us, a world of spaces and meaning, couched within the avenues of a relationship. His poetry has a shifting range of forms, moving from poems like:

15

eyes erred

and edged;

soft-spoken script,

whispered periphery

to:

I thought of the passage

I thought of the passage in relation to you

I thought of the passage in relation to me

I thought of the passage and our shared conversation

I thought of the passage and our shared sense of ecstasy

marginal prints is a chapbook worth reading. Philip Miletic lives in Kitchener, ON and his book is published by above/ground press (2017).

Eleni Zisimatos reviews Kristjana Gunnars' snake charmers : a cycle of twenty poems (2016)

Eleni Zisimatos reviews Kristjana Gunnars' snake charmers : a cycle of twenty poems (2016) over at the Vallum blog. Thanks so much! You can see the original review here. Come out to hear Gunnars launch the chapbook tomorrow night in Edmonton!

Kristjana Gunnars’, “snake charmers: a cycle of twenty poems” is a rich body of poems strongly evocative of place and mysticism. Her writing style is fluid, with colourful description and emotional tenor:

There is that empty chair, forever.
I can almost hear it whisper:

alone in the middle of the ceramic
tile floor, the herringbone blue, white,
crossing forever, a tossing sea of earth
and a garden table with no cups
and no utensils or flowers, fanning
round in royal blue mosaic, a red
cushion slightly off center on the brown
wicker chair.

This is our courtyard
of existence: these are the things in it,

this dark chair, the pillow
askance, the warm air, heavy, still thick
with the trace of your shadow.

The entire book resonates with lines like these, and the reader is able to enter into an exotic landscape where not everything is as it seems. It is well-worth the read. /ez

Eleni Zisimatos reviews Dennis Tourbin's The Stream and other poems (2014) and The Peter F. Yacht Club #21

Vallum co-editor/publisher Eleni Zisimatos was good enough to review Dennis Tourbin's The Stream and other poems (2014) here, and The Peter F. Yacht Club #21 (2014) here. Thanks so much!